Allergy-friendly dining in NYC

A Guide to Tree Nuts Made in Dedicated Facilities

Like just about everyone else, I hate talking on the phone, especially when it involves trying to get straight, reliable answers out of people who are obviously trying to hide the fact that they have no idea what they’re talking about and who are, for whatever reason, weirdly resistant to the idea of going and finding out the answer to my questions—or, better yet, transferring my call to someone half-competent. Fortunately, though, running this blog has turned me into a call-making pro: I phrase my questions strategically. I push for the double-check. Sometimes I even—gasp—leave voicemails.

These days, I have it all down to a science—and I fully expected to need to use every last ounce of that science to compile this list. But you know what? Pretty much every single person I spoke with at the companies listed below was kind, knowledgeable, and helpful. I had absolutely no trouble getting straight answers out of these folks—so if you’re looking to double-check (as you ought to) on what I’ve found…well, you’re probably in for an un-infuriating experience, at least.

Anyway. Why have I put all this effort into compiling a list of things I (and most of my readers) can’t actually eat? Because single-nut companies (as I’ve just decided to call them) are a hot commodity in the food-allergy world. Not everyone who’s allergic to tree nuts is allergic to all tree nuts—and the way those who’ve been diagnosed with a generalized tree-nut allergy find out that they are, in fact, okay with some nuts is via food challenging, which process absolutely requires access to cross contamination–free nuts.

(Think of it this way: You test positive for allergies to all tree nuts, but your allergist has a suspicion that you might actually be able to tolerate almonds. For your almond challenge—which is basically just a few hours of sitting around your allergist’s office, eating (controlled amounts of) almonds—you’ll need to bring in some almonds that you know contain nothing but almond. That way, if you fail the challenge, you’ll know your reaction was to the almonds themselves, rather than a trace amount of, say, cashew.)

It’s a matter of keeping your variables under control. But if you’ve arrived at this guide, you probably already know all this and more. You’re probably gearing up for a food challenge—as I hope soon to be!—and you’re probably also ready for me to just go ahead and start the list already. First, though, a few notes:

As with every single piece of information I’ve ever posted, you ought to double-check the relevant facts before shelling out (ha) for any of these nuts. Things change—but this isn’t a living document, and while I might update it, I make no promises. It’s meant to serve only as a starting point.

Though they aren’t the focus of this list, I’ve included a few of the nut and nut-based butters, pastes, etc., that are known in the food-allergy community as good (i.e. reliably cross contamination–free) products to use for food challenges. This isn’t a list of butters and pastes, though; I’m sure there are a bunch of safe ones that I haven’t looked into.

Some of these cases aren’t as simple as others. If I’ve just listed a company’s name, without any sort of annotation, then it’s safe to assume I was told that the nut in question comes from a single-nut facility, plain and simple. If I’ve included a warning, though, do be sure to read it before going ahead and tracking down the product.

Cashews

Hazelnuts

Freddy Guys Hazelnuts (“While we are a dedicated hazelnut processor we ask that you not purchase our hazelnuts.” Do with that what you will—they haven’t responded to any of my emails or voicemails since emailing me that sentence and that sentence alone.)

Honor Earth Farm (Their facilities are hazelnut-only, but the raw hazelnuts are the only ones they don’t send elsewhere for processing. Unfortunately, those raw hazelnuts are only available in bulk.)

Ken and June’s Oregon Hazelnuts (Hazelnuts are the only tree nuts in their kitchen, but do note that there is peanut oil used in the roasted-and-salted hazelnuts.)

Odds and Ends

Not enough? Averse to online ordering? Drawn to the prospect of putting in a whole bunch of extra effort? Really into the scent of your new dish soap? Here are some other ideas to consider:

Futters Nut Butters:They make almond, brazil-nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pistachio, pumpkin-seed, sunflower-seed, and walnut butters, all in a gluten-, dairy-, and peanut-free facility. All those tree nuts are handled in the same general area, yes—but they only grind one nut (or seed) per day, and they take great care to minimize the risk of cross-contamination.

Trader Joe’s: In some regions, some Trader Joe’s nuts do come from single-nut facilities. There’s no one-size way to tell, though, so you’re best off just singling out the nuts you’re interested in and then calling their oddly helpful hotline (626-599-3700) for details. You never know—and surprisingly enough, the odds are actually decent.

Shelling and/or washing your own nuts: Should all else fail, it’s certainly an option. Just buy some nuts—shelled, in-shell, whatever it is you’re comfortable with—and then slather on the dish soap, rinse, dry, and…well, eat. Some will say that only nuts bought pre-shelled need to be washed; others prefer the peace of mind that comes with buying nuts in-shell and then scrubbing those shells down before cracking. It’s up to you, really.

P.S. No, I didn’t buy a bowl of poison just so I could photograph it for this post. I may spend a lot of time on the phone for y’all, but I don’t love you that much. Source.

[…] It’s important to bring in food for your challenge that is not contaminated with other foods. If you are doing a nut challenge, Nut-Free New York has a great resource for finding uncontaminated nuts. […]

Have you come across any companies that process only peanuts? Our son has a tree nut allergy but can have peanuts. However he can only have nuts in the shell b/c other roasted peanuts from the can/jar are roasted in the same facilities as tree nuts. Thanks in advance.

Hi, my son is allergic to all nuts and beans, plus a bunch of other stuff, but we did find out he can eat pine nuts. We were so excited to find your web site. He wants to do some serious hiking and he needs to make his own gawp, he needs a protein plus fat, nuts are ideal.we have ordered some pine nuts, this could be the breakthrough we need. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but he is so excited. This could make the difference to him going to Philmont high adventure scout camp, or not. Thank you sandie

Hi, Sandie. Thanks for this note! I’m glad to hear that you and your son have found something that’s looking like it’ll work for him. Blogging involves lots of research, and lots of list-making, with little affirmation from the people out there who are actually benefitting from my efforts—so I really do appreciate your comment!

[…] It’s important to bring in food for your challenge that is not contaminated with other foods. If you are doing a nut challenge, Nut-Free New York has a great resource for finding uncontaminated nuts. […]

Thank you for this resource! I’m wondering if anyone had found any nut flours that are made in dedicated facilities? I’m trying to eat more paleo, but have kids with allergies to peanuts and various tree nuts; however almonds and hazelnuts are safe. I just can’t find an almond flour that is t manufactured in a facility with other tree nuts. 😦

We use almond flour from Barney Butter which is also our go to source for crunchy almond butter, yum. Their website says it’s peanut free, made in almond only facility.
Btw the link above is wrong, goes to Fat Uncle Farms instead. Correct site is barneybutter.com

Thank you so much; especially for the Trader Joe’s helpline. They confirmed the hazelnuts, walnuts, & pecans are not crossprocessed. Pistachios crossprocessed with almonds, and cashews crossprocessed with peanuts and other tree nuts.

You’re welcome. And thanks for sharing your findings! Although with Trader Joe’s, these things are regional—just something for anyone reading along to know (or for you to know, in case you end up at a faraway TJs).

Thank you, thank you. Getting ready to do a tree nut challenge and your research has given us somewhere to begin finding ‘peanut free’ almonds and other tree nuts. Any suggestions which common tree nuts to challenge her second and third round? Thinking pistachio and…?

Thank you so much for compiling this list! My 12yo daughter has had a known tree-nut allergy since she was 3. We have avoided all tree nuts. Recently she did an oral challenge and we learned she can have walnuts, pecans, and almonds, but still needs to strictly avoid cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts. This list has been so helpful in us finding safe nuts for her. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you for doing the research to put this list together, and for sharing it with so many!!!! Your hard work is much appreciated!!!! Are you aware of a list of nut butters that are free of cross contamination? I’m thinking Futters Nut Butters may have gone out of business, as I placed an order a month and a half ago, have reached out to them multiple times, and still have yet to receive an update or response on my order. We mix the safe nut butters with safe chocolate (that we melt) and mold into candies. We’ve found that that’s the best way to get a variety of safe tree nuts into my 4 year old’s diet.

Futter’s Nut Butters is no longer taking orders (the website is up but orders don’t go through). I found upon googling that the owner was charged with identity theft to “prop up his nut butter business”.

Thank you SO much for this information! My son is 2 and we are in the process of navigating his food allergies. Based on his blood test, he’s not allergic to hazelnuts so our allergist recommended getting them in his diet ASAP. For almost 3 months now I’ve done nothing because local grocers and Amazon or Thrive Market do not offer a safe option. Finally today, after some google searching, I found your post! Planning to order soon! Also just learned hazelnuts are an excellent source of vitamin E, perhaps that will help my son’s eczema, too! Anyway, thanks again!!!

Nutkrack is a company that processes and sells only carmelized pecans.They are gluten-free and vegan: “…work with four simple ingredients, all of which are animal- and byproduct-free (pecans, canola oil, sugar, salt)

Does anyone know about tree nuts at Trader Joe’s? I was there today, and they have many bags of cashews, almonds, etc., which do not contain any facilities warnings regarding other types of tree nuts. That’s encouraging, but I would have been happier if the label had affirmatively stated that the nuts came from a single facility. My son can eat almonds and cashews, but not pistachios or hazelnuts, and I don’t want to risk cross contamination. (I’m optimistic, since many TJ products do have a facilities warning, which suggests that the absence of one is good news).

I just came across https://www.mandelininc.com/, which makes almonds that do not come in contact with peanuts or any other tree nut. I haven’t ordered yet, but they also seem more reasonably priced than some of the alternative (especially when you consider their lower shipping prices).